The old pile of concrete was already close to 30 years old — hard, weather-beaten years — when the San Francisco Giants braced for Games 3...

VANCOUVER — Next to Sidney Crosby -- no, scratch that: even including him, because he’s already been there/done that/inspired the T-shirt -- there probably was no more eagerly anticipated selection to Canada’s Sochi Olympic hockey team than Steven Stamkos.

It’s hard to fault the 2010 selection committee, considering Canada won the gold medal in Vancouver. But Stamkos’s omission four years ago on the grounds that his star was too newly-minted to be totally trusted, though he was en route to a 51-goal sophomore season, was a head-scratcher even then.

So this was going to be his Games, his (barely) 24-year-old prime time, the ultimate showcase for the sport’s greatest natural goal-scorer -- well, he’s either No. 1 or 1A, depending on Alex Ovechkin’s state of mind -- and a makeup date for the one he missed.

And then he came barreling down the right wing in Boston on Nov. 11, took a little chop from Bruins defenceman Dougie Hamilton, lost an edge and went hurtling into that goalpost, the impact snapping his right tibia a few inches below the knee.

Literally millions of hearts sank at that precise moment, including those of hockey fans across Canada and in Tampa Bay, of rookie NHL head coach Jon Cooper and his staff, of their boss, Lightning (and Team Canada) GM Steve Yzerman -- and no doubt, of Stamkos’s wizardly winger Marty St. Louis, whose body clock is ticking at 38, and who will never get another Olympic chance if he doesn’t make it this time.

The video of Stamkos struggling to get up, trying to put weight on the right leg and collapsing, face to the ice, grimacing in pain, is hard to look at even now.

“When he went back down, everybody said, ‘Oh, this is bad.’ All the veterans on the bench said, ‘This never happens. He would never not get up. He’s as tough a player as we have on this team.’ So I think that’s when that fear struck all of us,” Cooper said at Wednesday’s morning skate at Rogers Arena.

“In saying that, because he has that fire in him, everyone knew he was going to make it back. Steven Stamkos has that ‘it’ factor. I would never sit here and say he’ll be back for the Olympics. First of all you have to be named to the team ... but I would never discount him.

“We’ve said all along and Steven has said it himself: his health and the Tampa Bay Lightning are first, and the Olympics next. But we want him to play. You never know if you’ll get that chance again, and I’d love nothing more than to see him waving the Canadian flag in Sochi in February.”

Wednesday was 51 days after the injury, and as Cooper spoke, Stamkos was out on the ice, doing shooting drills, forward-to-backward turns, crossovers -- exercises that put some torque on the leg -- as well as some straight-line skating.

This was going to be the one time on the Lightning’s road trip that he would speak to the Canadian media, and maybe he was showing off a little.

It must be tempting as hell to push.

“I think that’s one of the hardest things, but your body is pretty good at letting you know what you can and cannot do,” Stamkos said, still in his skates in the corner of the visitors room. “We’re at a stage now where everything has gone extremely well; you don’t want to push too hard, overdo it and have a setback.

“I’m fortunate to have youth on my side, fortunate to have the staff I’m surrounded by each day that makes sure I’m getting the best possible treatment -- as an athlete, you have access to rehab facilities that help in the process, so I’m taking every advantage that I can to help this get better quicker.

“I’m a pretty driven guy. (The Olympics) is a goal. I want to come back and play hockey for the Tampa Bay Lightning before I go, if that’s the case, but it’s nice to have that goal to motivate you on some of the tougher days.”

He doesn’t subscribe to the idea that his Olympic fate and that of St. Louis might be intertwined.

“No. I think Marty deserves a spot on that team regardless of any other player, whether they’re injured or not,” Stamkos said. “Marty, especially the last 10 games, has really carried us. He’s a leader, he’s the captain for a reason, and he probably should have been on the last (Olympic) team -- he’s using that as motivation, and I’ll be very surprised if he’s not on the team.”

“I’d like to think I’m a candidate,” said St. Louis, who’s had 22 points (10 goals) in the 22 games since Stamkos went down, helping the rookie-laden Lightning to an amazing 11-7-4 record in that span.

“Whether I’m on the team or not, that’s not my decision. They’re faced with a lot of tough decisions. I don’t know what the thought process is. I haven’t had one conversation with (Yzerman) about it. He’s going to do the best he can to help Canada win a gold medal, whether that’s picking me or not picking me.”

Still, on a roster that might (or might not) be leaning toward “paired” forward lines manned by Crosby and Chris Kunitz of Pittsburgh, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp of Chicago, and Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry of Anaheim, you’d have to think St. Louis’s chances would be a lot better if somehow Stamkos were able to will the bone in his leg to heal ahead of schedule and get back in time to play a few NHL games before Yzerman and his staff absolutely, positively have to rule him in or out for Sochi.

It was always going to be tight fit: the prognosis on his injury, which required a titanium rod to be screwed onto the bone, was a three- to six-month heal, and Feb. 13 would be three months since the surgery.

“I’d like to think I can be on the quicker side of that, but it’s all up to the bone, really. Until it’s healed, you’re not going to get cleared to play,” he said.

But watching him skate Wednesday left little doubt that he’s going to be awfully close by the end of January. In the meantime, he’s become a keen student of other athletes’ similar injuries, and recovery times, and best rehab practices -- and a keen student of internet medicine.

“Yeah, if you have any questions, feel free to ask,” he grinned.

“I’ve always been fascinated with the medical stuff that goes on, on our team. When it happens to you, you’re very attached to what goes on in your body.

“It’s pretty cool to see the X-ray done immediately after the surgery, the one done at 4 weeks and then at 6 weeks, just the cloudiness around the bone which is new bone healing. Mentally, it helps seeing that.”

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